Prof didn't disclose business ties to fracking

A University of Texas at Austin professor who led a study that found no evidence that hydraulic fracturing contaminates groundwater had a conflict of interest as a director and stockholder of a company that engages in fracking, according to a nonprofit organization critical of the study.

Media reports Tuesday of the professor's lucrative post at an oil and gas company prompted the provost at UT-Austin to say the study will be examined by an independent group of experts, who are expected to report back in a few weeks.

Charles “Chip” Groat, a professor of geological sciences at UT-Austin, led the study, released in February by the UT Energy Institute, of which he is an associate director.

Groat also is a director of Houston-based Plains Exploration and Production Co., of which he held more than 40,000 shares as of May, according to the company's proxy. Groat's shares are worth more than $1.58 million at the company's current per-share price.

“The report was an industry-friendly message that was led by a gas industry insider,” said Kevin Connor, director of the Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit watchdog organization in Buffalo, N.Y.

After the Energy Institute report was released, the organization started examining the backgrounds of the report's authors, looking for potential conflicts of interest. During the process, the group was contacted by Bloomberg News, which reported their findings Monday.

“We took a close look at Groat and his industry connection,” Connor added. “The connection isn't reported in his bio or on the University of Texas at Austin website.”

Groat could not be reached for comment at his office phone, and he did not respond to emails requesting comment.

In addition to his Plains Exploration shares, in 2011 Groat received $58,500 in cash as a Plains Exploration director, and he received stock awards valued at $355,400. He chose to defer the stock awards until such time as he leaves the company's board, company documents show.

Plains Exploration is an independent oil and gas company that develops properties, mostly in the United States, according to its website.

Connor said Groat failed to disclose his affiliation with Plains Exploration and did not disclose his stock awards, which carry a value more than double his current UT salary. Groat's annual salary at UT-Austin was $173,273 as of February, according to data compiled by the Texas Tribune under the Texas Public Information Act.

Steven Leslie, provost and executive vice president at UT-Austin, said Tuesday in a statement: “The most important asset we have as an institution is the public's trust. If that is in question, then that is something we need to address.

“We will identify a group of outside experts to review the Energy Institute's report on the effects of hydraulic fracturing. We hope to have that group identified and the results back within a few weeks. We believe that the research meets our standards, but it is important to let an outside group of experts take an independent look.”

Leslie added that Groat “has been reminded of his obligations to report all outside employment per university policy. If the university had known about Dr. Groat's board involvement, the Energy Institute would have included that information in the report.”

Raymond Orbach, director of the Energy Institute, said he was unaware that Groat was serving on Plains Exploration's board of directors until a reporter from another news outlet inquired a few weeks ago.

“It would have been better if we had known,” Orbach said. “We would have made an asterisk on our report. But there was no evidence whatsoever of any influence on any of the portions of the report. ... As far as we're concerned, the report stands as it is and represents the work of the scholars that has been unaffected by any relationship to the oil and gas community.”

Tara Doolittle, spokeswoman for the UT-Austin president's office, said Groat had disclosed his Plains Exploration directorship to the dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the university but that it wasn't on his disclosure form for this past school year. That disclosure only would have included his position on the board and his time commitments but not compensation.

“There are rules about how much time faculty may spend on outside activities, whether for pay or not, but there is no element of detailing what compensation for that activity is,” Doolittle said.

This was the second time the Public Accountability Initiative looked into the backgrounds of authors of fracking studies. Although the group looks at a wide variety of government and business practices, it is critical of fracking and the oil and gas industry.

Its first report on a fracking study examined a University at Buffalo Shale Resources and Society Institute report from May on fracking's environmental effects. It found numerous conflicts of interest there, too, but not as egregious, Connor said, because there wasn't a complete lack of disclosure.